Focus Points

One thing I have never taken any notice of is Focus Points. I only ever use single point focus/focus lock or manual focus. I shot mostly statis objects but also a lot of sport (rugby). I do not seem to miss focus as there are other reasons my shots are poor.

TheLaird wrote in post #18784112One thing I have never taken any notice of is Focus Points. I only ever use single point focus/focus lock or manual focus. I shot mostly statis objects but also a lot of sport (rugby). I do not seem to miss focus as there are other reasons my shots are poor.

It's easy to dimiss the importance of focus points, until you have a camera with an enhanced focusing system. I started with the original digital rebel, 40D, 5D, 5DII and I always douns ways to make it work. But it was work and the keeper rate was not particularly high.

Last spring I bought a used 1DIII and it was a revelation, not only were there more points to chose from, but the outer point to were more reliable. Recently I picked up a IDx and it's a focusing miracle. The 61 points means I can select with great precision or I can unleash some pretty amazing multi point options

So if you get the chance to upgrade to a body with advanced focusing options, do it.

Agree, very important. With modern AF and lenses I can use Al Servo for pretty much everything and take bursts if I'm using a shallow DOF. Especially sports or birding, being able to use an outside focus point and thus position the subject is very nice. Having to use the center point and always cropping, I lost a lot of shots but not getting the composition I had in mind.

I used to shoot rugby with manual focus FD lenses, but my skills and eyesight are not good enough for that anymore.

Focus re-compose is not the best option and it only works in One Shot. Both cameras are are poor? Maybe some samples with EXIF of your what you think is poor. It could be something else. Same lenses showing poor performance on both bodies? Needs MFA?

digital paradise wrote in post #18784967Focus re-compose is not the best option and it only works in One Shot. Both cameras are are poor? Maybe some samples with EXIF of your what you think is poor. It could be something else. Same lenses showing poor performance on both bodies? Needs MFA?

Certainly agree 'not the best option'. OTOH, I find it hard to believe that so many photographers using SLRs during the 60's thru the late 80's had such suboptimally inferior and unacceptable results with their centered focus aids!

Wilt wrote in post #18785285Certainly agree 'not the best option'. OTOH, I find it hard to believe that so many photographers using SLRs during the 60's thru the late 80's had such suboptimally inferior and unacceptable results with their centered focus aids!

TheLaird wrote in post #18785058Poor composition mostly. Nothing a camera can fix !!

Poor by who's definition? We learn the rules about composition and then we learn how to break them. Your photos are your art. If you don't like what you are doing there are courses and tons of info on the web about composition. Worry about getting the composition and the story the photo is trying to tell. I'll take a slightly OOF shot that is interesting over a sharp boring shot any day.

Wilt wrote in post #18785285Certainly agree 'not the best option'. OTOH, I find it hard to believe that so many photographers using SLRs during the 60's thru the late 80's had such suboptimally inferior and unacceptable results with their centered focus aids!

I used cameras of that era. Big bright viewfinders with great focusing screens and lenses with focus rings that were so much better than modern AF lenses.I prefer the modern bells and whistles but when they fail and I resort to manually focusing I miss the old tech that made MF so easy.

john crossley wrote in post #18784160Very important, it's where the camera will actually focus.

- In evaluative/matricial/m​ultizone metering, the focus point(s) do ponderate the metering if ponderation is not - when permitted via options menu - inactivated by user.- In case, the spot measing zone is possibly attached or not to one focus point, the position of this specific focus point on the frame is not neutral.- When using flash, flash exposure metering is depending on where the focus point(s) are at the very moment of pressing the shutter release to the end. If you change the composition of your image before taking flash pictures, it's recommanded to memorize the flash metering you did on the main subject.- In manual focus mode, because of the lack of focus point position in the frame, evaluative/matricial/m​ultizone metering fonction is often replaced by center weight metering...depending of camera....

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